Goodnight and Go
by katerinavalentine
Summary: Brown eyes watched as her hips moved to the music. They were at her album release party. Her fifth album release party, to be exact. After graduating high school, she'd been noticed by a talent scout. And that's when their lives changed forever.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

* * *

Brown eyes watched as her hips moved to the music. They were at her album release party. Her fifth album release party, to be exact. After graduating high school, she'd been noticed by a talent scout. And that's when their lives changed forever.

They dated all through high school. Most didn't know that they were an actual couple. They thought that they were just really good friends because they didn't show PDA. They always waited until they were behind closed doors. But once she was signed to the label and she started getting busier and busier, they saw less and less of each other. They never officially broke up, but they definitely weren't a couple anymore.

He missed her. More than anything. They saw each other as frequently as their schedules would allow. Him a comedian and her a worldly famous pop star, their schedules didn't match up very often. But when they did, they made plans.

The group stayed friends after graduation, but they hardly ever got to see much of each other even though they all still lived in Hollywood. Well, sometimes. Cat and Jade were often in New York at the apartment they had in the city. They spent almost as much time there as Los Angeles, so they just went in together on a New York apartment in Manhattan and they shared the cost of the place to keep it up and running for when they were in the city.

With Jade being an actress now, she was on location a lot so she found herself bouncing back and forth between several homes. She also directs some of the episodes and writes part of the scripts now and then.

Tori gave up on being a pop star, but still made music. She wrote the lyrics, sang the demos, and found the right voice to sell them to. Some even went to Cat.

Andre was now a music producer. He wasn't famous, but he's pretty well known in town and constantly had gigs.

Beck went on to be an actor. Although not a household name, he's been in several big hits and awarded for them.

Trina... she gave up everything. Instead of becoming an actress, dancer, or singer like she insisted on in high school, she ended up giving up that life altogether and decided on becoming a vlogger. Not only does she vlog about her life, she gives out relationship advice, life advice, runs a cooking vlog, teaches people about healthier ways of eating and exercising, skin care products, and... talks about her life as a mother. She's long ago lost the annoying teenager personality and was now a health conscious, loving, caring, giving life partner and mother.

Robbie became a comedian. He still used Rex, but he was now solely part of his show. He wasn't just a puppet that he carried around anymore. He'd grown up, become a man, and was performing at several theaters around town and along the coast.

And lastly, Caterina Valentine. The tiny, emotionally unstable ball of anxiety, red headed innocent, shy, simple minded, frequently distracted and confused little girl that everyone had grown up with... was now the world's most famous pop star. She'd just released her fifth album, only six months after her fourth was debuted, and was already in the works of a sixth. The woman never stopped working. She was now a confident, outspoken, mature, body positive, self loving, admirable, animal loving woman who had ditched the red locks for her natural brown and let it grow out.

As he watched her dance, he couldn't help but remember the times they had those years ago. They were adults now. They were twenty-six and twenty-seven. That seemed so old compared to the nineteen-year-olds they were when everything changed.

She was wearing nothing but an oversized t-shirt and thigh-high socks. Her style hadn't changed at all. Seeing her dressed the way she did as a teenager brought back the memories.

The memories of them laying in bed together, their legs intertwined, his hand caressing her thigh, her backside, and creeping up that oversized shirt to brush over her hip, her ribs, and feel her up - which normally led to making out, dry humping each other, and having sex.

"Oh my god, Trina!"

Cat's voice interrupted his thoughts. Her voice was no longer that annoying high pitched, airy voice. It was stronger. Deeper, but still feminine.

"Give me that baby right now, I've been waiting so long to finally meet him," Cat said as she scurried over to the oldest Vega sister.

"Just don't jostle him around, I just fed him," Trina said as she passed the one-month-old baby boy over to the younger girl.

Cat gasped and swayed gently back and forth as she cradled the baby in her arms, holding him belly-to-belly as he looked up at her. "Oh my gosh, how precious are you? Hi, handsome, I'm Aunt Cat," she said.

"I'm gonna go say hi to everyone. If he gets fussy, just find me."

"Oh, we'll be fine, you go have fun so I can snuggle with him."

As Trina walked into the crowd, Cat made her way over to the couch and sat next to Robbie. "Look and this squishy, squeezable face," she said.

Robbie nodded with a smile. "He's pretty cute." _Not as cute as you, though._

Cat kissed the baby's forehead and rocked him gently as he looked around. "I can't wait for this. Have my own babies, be a mom."

"Why don't you?"

Cat gave him a short laugh. "I'm on tour in a few months. I'm single. I'm not having sex, so that's the biggest dilemma."

"So go to a clinic. You have the money for it."

"Yeah, but that's not how I want to do it. I want to make my babies. I want to make them with my one true love, my soulmate," she said. "I'll find him some day. I'm okay with my life right now. I'm happy."

Hearing her talk about her 'one true love' and 'soulmate' kind of shattered his heart. Was that not him at one point? They were once in love. At least, he was.

"Yeah. You'll find him," Robbie said before staying silent for a few seconds and clearing his throat. "Um... I should get going," he said, standing up.

"No!" Cat whined. "Please stay, we haven't hung out in forever."

"I dunno, Cat..."

"Please, Robbie. Once the party's over and everyone goes home it'll just be us. It'll be like old times," Cat pleaded. "Please?"

He wanted that. He wanted that desperately. So, giving in, he sighed and nodded. "Okay. Just tonight though."

"Just tonight."

* * *

Cat giggled as Robbie spun her around the kitchen before putting her back down but keeping his arms around her as she backed into the counter. When everyone left, they were still wide awake and it wasn't extremely late, so they decided to stay up a little longer and make a cake. Red velvet, of course.

Dipping her finger into the icing container, she dabbed Robbie's nose with another giggle and licked the remaining off of her finger.

"You're such a brat," Robbie said, laughing.

"You love it."

"Yeah, I do."

They stared at each other, both of their breath just slightly heavier than normal from the goofing off and laughing.

His light brown eyes peering into her large, dark, doe-like orbs.

The time seemed to pass so slowly. So slowly, in fact, that they hadn't realized that they were leaning in to each other.

His pouty lips connected with her equally as plump lips, and it's like they'd been created just for each other. Their mouths fit perfectly together, almost as perfectly as their tongues danced around each other.

She tasted like strawberry icing.

He tasted like chocolate and mint.

Their tongues battled for dominance and she soon found herself on top of the counter, her hands on his cheeks and him stepping between her legs, pulling her to the edge of the counter to hold her close.

This was a rare occurrence. They didn't get to see each other much. But when they did, it usually ended up like this. Making out in a random room. But why did this time feel... different?

Neither of them wanted to pull away, but air was an important thing. When they pulled away, they were both breathing heavily and Cat's hands clutched the collar of Robbie's shirt, keeping him close.

"Robbie..." she whispered.

"Mm?" he asked.

"I need you in the worst way..."

Why did she get so insanely horny around him? Was it because the sexual tension built up over all those years? They haven't actually had sex in over six years. Their sleepovers usually ended up in a make out session and that was it. So why was her core throbbing so erratically?

Why was he suddenly harder than a rock?

Why weren't they already fucking?

* * *

"You did **what**?" Jade asked.

"I had sex with Robbie," Cat said.

"**Why**?"

"Because things got really heated."

"How?"

"We hung out after the party last night. We decided to bake a cake. We started goofing off, ended up making out, and we banged on the counter."

"What kind of cake was it?"

Cat's brows furrowed. "Seriously?"

"What kind of cake?"

"Red velvet."

"Did you bring any with you?"

"What? No!" Cat said. "Jade!"

"What? I like food, you know that."

"Food isn't important right now," she said, getting up from the couch and walking to the kitchen. "What's important is that I had sex with a guy I haven't thought of in a romantic way in over six years, and now I have all these... feelings and I don't know what to do about it," she said as she opened the fridge.

"Well, what feelings do you have for him?" Jade asked as she made her way to the counter and leaned on it.

Cat shrugged, placing the pitcher down. "I don't know... mushy gushy ones."

"Like, 'I love him' ones or 'I'm just horny' ones?"

"More like... I just wanna make him cum sometimes, but I really, really like him."

"...So, horny ones."

"Both."

"What are you gonna do about it?"

Cat shrugged again and grabbed a couple of glasses out of the cabinet. "I don't know... What should I do? You and Beck have been together for 84 years, you know how relationship stuff works. What do I do?" she asked.

"Beck and I have been together since middle school, we didn't take a six year long break. This is something you and Robbie have to work out together."

"I need help," she whined.

"I can't help you with this one, Kitten. You just have to tell Puppet Boy how you feel. You're a big girl. You can do it."

"I haven't been in a real relationship since... since Robbie and I were together the first time."

"You never technically broke up, though. So, wouldn't that mean you're still together?" Jade asked, sliding the pitcher over to herself and pouring the lemonade in the glasses.

Cat stayed silent for a few seconds. "...I don't know. Does it?"

"If there was no break up talk, then... yeah."

"...I'm gonna go call Robbie," she said as she made her way out of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

* * *

"Coming," Trina called out as she made her way to the front door. She'd been in the middle of vlogging, but since she was ahead in videos anyways, it wasn't much of an inconvenience for company. She just hadn't been expecting anyone. Opening the door, she smiled at the sweet face of Cat. "Well hi stranger, what's up? Come on in," she said, moving out of the door way. "What brings you by?"

"Well, one; I think these might be Jamie's?" Cat said, uncertain as she held up a blanket and a pacifier. "There were other kids at the party last weekend, and everyone else said they weren't their kids', so you were the last one on the list."

"They are, I've been looking everywhere for his blanket!" Trina said, taking the baby's items. "Thank you, but you didn't have to come all the way across town just to drop these off."

"Well, that's not the only reason I came by."

"Oh. Okay, well is everything alright?"

Cat nodded. "Yeah, I just... You're good with advice. And I need advice. I feel like I'm fifteen all over again," she said, sitting down on the couch.

"What's going on?" Trina asked as she sat next to her.

"Well... After everyone went home the night of the release party, a friend spent the night."

"Okay, gotcha so far," she nodded. "Did they never leave? Are they still there? Do you need help kicking someone out?"

"No, no," Cat said with a small laugh. "No, it's uh... I ended up sleeping with him."

"Okay. So, do you mean just sleeping together in bed, or having sex? They're two very different things."

"We had sex," she nodded. "...A lot of sex. Hours... and hours of sex."

"Well, was it at least good?" Trina asked with a grin.

"It was fantastic."

"So what's the problem?"

A tiny cry emitted from a small plastic speaker on the coffee table and Trina held a finger up. "Okay, hold that thought. Let me go grab him really quick, I'll be back in a jiffy," Trina said as she got up and quickly made her way down the hall.

While she was gone, Cat stayed seated but looked around the room. There were tons of pictures. Pictures of Trina and Tori from infancy to the present. Throwbacks of the very few times the entire group was together (which meant the times Trina was there). More recent pictures from the last few years of Trina and Cat herself. Her favorite one of the two of them was hung in a frame in the middle of a cluster of other pictures. Cat was sitting in Trina's lap, they weren't paying attention to the camera, and they were both laughing their heads off. It was taken backstage at one of Cat's concerts from a few years ago. And then there was another one she really loved. It was at another one of her concerts, but Trina was heavily pregnant with Jamie and Cat was kissing her belly.

Her reminiscing was interrupted when she heard the small gurgles of the baby boy and she smiled when Trina sat back down next to her and immediately offered him to the singer.

Cat held him carefully against her chest, his tiny legs bunched up under his body while one of her hands cradled his head and the other safely securing that adorable baby butt. What was it about baby butts that were so cute? "Hi, handsome. I brought your blankie back for you, I bet you missed it, huh?"

"I probably missed it more than he did," Trina said. "So, back to this mystery man. What was the problem about sleeping with him?"

Cat let out a heavy sigh. "...It was Robbie."

"What? Shapiro?"

"Yeah."

"Wow, Valentine, I didn't think you guys had the hots for each other."

"Well, the thing is, we were dating in high school."

"No way."

"Yeah. All four years, up until things really took off for my first album."

"Why didn't I know this?"

"You were pretty self absorbed back then, you didn't really care about anybody else."

Trina nodded. It hurt her to know that he was so selfish as a teenager. But, that stage was behind her. She started putting her loved ones first and realized that she could be happy even if things weren't all about her. "That's very true."

"We also never really boasted about it," Cat said. "We saved all the relationship stuff for after school. Didn't really show much of it at school so not many people knew. It was just Jade and Beck, really. But only because they walked in on us once."

"Oh, god."

"Yeah."

"Okay, so... you said 'were dating' in high school. When did you break up?"

"Well, that's the thing. Jade pointed out that we really never did break up. We never had the break up talk. We just kind of drifted apart once success hit," Cat said, running her hand over Jamie's back when he started whimpering. "She says that technically we're still together, but... after six years?"

"There are several things to consider here. Have you kept in touch in those six years?"

"Not nearly as much as I wanted to. Maybe once every couple months, if that."

"Okay. How often do you physically see each other?"

"Last weekend was the first time in... over a year, I guess? Well, other than the concert he went to. That was just a few months ago, but it was only for the show, we went out with some of my crew, and that was it. Before that, it had been over a year."

"Well... then I'd say you're not actually a couple," Trina said. "Do you want to be a couple?"

Cat shrugged. "I don't know, Treen..."

"Do you have feelings for him?"

"Of course I do. I've loved him since the day I met him."

"Does he know?"

"I haven't told him..."

"Do you just love him and have a crush on him, or are you in love with him?"

Cat stayed silent for a few seconds. "...I can see me spending the rest of my life with him."

"Well then, why not talk to him about this?"

"Because, I... I didn't feel this way about him until we had sex. What if I'm not really in love with him, what if I'm just horny?"

Trina laughed. "You may not have realized you felt this way, but it's been deep down inside of you."

"So has he."

"Oh, you," she chuckled. "Listen... my best advice for you right now is to talk to him. Tell him about how you feel about him. Bring up the fact that you're not sure if it's the real thing or if it's just lust. But you guys should give it a trial run. See how life treats you. You don't even have to call yourself a couple. Henry and I aren't a couple, we're life partners. We aren't in a relationship, but we're in it to win it together."

"Are you in love?"

"Very much so."

"Then... how can you not be a couple? I don't understand."

"Because not all soulmates are an item. We had a long, serious discussion about it. We love each other, we're in love with each other, but we don't want to commit ourselves to a relationship because what happens if it falls apart?" Trina asked. "We decided to just be life partners and just love each other. If he finds a girl he really likes, then that's someone he can go out with and vice versa with me. We'll always be in love with each other, but some people just aren't meant to be in a relationship and we've both agreed that we're okay with that."

"That's... really beautiful," she said. "But I don't want Robbie to find some other girl to fall in love with."

"Then talk to him. That's all you can do right now. You'll never know unless you try."

Cat sighed, looking down at Jamie. "You wanna talk to him for me?"

* * *

"What are we gonna watch?" Cat asked, hopping over the back of Robbie's couch and sitting next to him.

They'd decided to have a sleepover at his place this time. He'd sleep there, she'd sleep here.

She was excited about it. But she was also nervous because she needed to get it off of her chest that she really, really liked him. She just didn't know how to bring it up. And her mind just kept wandering. Why did he ask her to come over? Was it really to just have a harmless sleepover and watch movies and act like kids again? Was it just so they could have sex again? Not that she would deny him sex. But what if the sex was the only thing he was interested in? Was that all she was good for these days, is a good lay? A wham bam thank you ma'am? A hit it and quit it?

"Little Shop of Horrors first," Robbie said, offering her popcorn.

"My favorite movie of all time, how did you know," she joked as she took a few pieces and popped them in her mouth.

As the movie played, they ended up laying on the couch together, her snuggled up to him. His hand was on her hip, but it soon found its way to her waist. And then up her shirt. And that's what started their make out session, which turned into her grinding her hips into his and them both reaching climax way faster than expected.

They both breathed heavily, their foreheads touching, his hand still on her breast, their crotches still pressed together, and their warm breath mixing. No words were said. They just relaxed and she ended up falling asleep on top of him.

* * *

"**Again**?" Jade asked. "Are you kidding me?"

"No! Not again, we did not have sex this time," Cat said as she scurried around her dressing room, getting pieces of clothing put together.

"You just said you got off."

"Yeah, we were humping each other, we never got naked."

"Did you tell him how you feel about him?"

"Are you dumb? No."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because it never came up. We were watching a movie, he touched my boob, I humped him, had an orgasm, we fell asleep. Didn't have the chance to talk," Cat said as she took her shirt off.

"So you had the time to cum, but not talk."

"Yeah, I told you it happened fast."

"So fast you couldn't say 'hey, I really, really, really, really like you'?"

"Yeah because I'm not Carly Rae Jepsen," she said. "I'm talking like, I went at it for maybe three minutes. Maybe. And we came, that was it. We fell asleep after that."

"You ho."

"No. I am not a ho, this is the same man. I'm not about that life," she said, pulling part of her costume on. "And besides, it kind of just happened. I don't think either of us were intending on fooling around, it just happened naturally."

"There's nothing natural about hooking up but not telling each other you like each other."

"It happens literally all the time, Jade."

"Not with me and Beck."

"Well I'm sorry that not everyone is as perfect as you and Beck, but some of us are normal human beings that **aren't** masochists and sadists."


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

* * *

"So you're saying you like her," Andre said as he messed around with his music board.

Robbie was free from shows for about a week and Andre had invited him and Beck to the studio. They actually talked about him recording some of his act's songs - similar to how Bo Burnham and Jeff Dunham did.

"Well... I don't know, it's possible," Robbie said. "I mean, I had the hots for her in high school."

"She's definitely gotten hotter, that's for sure," Andre said.

"That's my sister man, come on," Beck said.

"I don't mean it in a disrespectful way, you know I wouldn't disrespect Little Red."

"Robbie definitely likes her."

"He definitely does."

"They're in love."

"They totally are."

"Hello, I'm right here," Robbie said.

"You're in love with Cat," Beck said. "We all know it, we all see it."

"Well, I didn't until it was brought up," Andre said.

"I've known since high school. Anybody that thought they were 'just friends' was a moron."

"I never thought they were just friends, I knew there was a little somethin' somethin' going on behind the scenes."

"I'm still right here," Robbie said.

"Well do you have feelings for Little Red?"

"I don't know."

"You definitely have feelings for her," Beck said. "There's no way you don't. You were attached at the hip when we were kids, you spent every free moment you had together, you made memories, you made life, you made -"

"Made life?" Andre asked.

Beck pursed his lips. "Sorry. I didn't... mean for that to come out."

Robbie sighed, rubbing his eyes under his glasses.

"What do you mean made life?" Andre asked. "Was Cat pregnant?"

"She was," Robbie said. "But she didn't make it past the first trimester."

"Man. I'm sorry. That's rough."

"We didn't know she was pregnant until she had the miscarriage," he said. "It was kind of scary. We were at her house watching movies and all of a sudden, she's doubled over in pain and crying. And bleeding. There was blood everywhere. We're just glad it wasn't something more serious or life threatening."

"Still. That sucks. I don't know how I would feel if I lost something I made."

"We were kids. We weren't ready for a kid anyways. And it wasn't planned. It turned out for the best. Cat might not be where she is today if that baby made it full term," Robbie said. "We didn't know, so it wasn't anything really devastating for us."

"I think it affected Cat more than you think," Beck said.

"Why?"

"Because when Jade had her miscarriage, Cat cried with her all night and day and they talked about how the babies would have been best friends and -" Beck stopped talking, swallowing hard. Losing a baby may not have been a big deal for Robbie, but it was to Beck and Jade. They'd been trying to get pregnant and were so excited when it finally happened. And then they lost it. He cleared his throat, busying himself with his phone. "It just... really affected her more than she let you think back then."

"Oh..."

"I'm sorry man, I didn't mean to bring anything up, I just didn't know Cat got pregnant," Andre said. He did know about Jade and Beck's baby, though. They celebrated when Beck told him Jade was pregnant. It was a happy time. And then just a few short weeks later, it was all over. There was no more baby.

"It's fine. It's just still a pretty new subject," Beck said. It had been six months ago. Their baby would have been due any day now if Jade was still pregnant.

"Let's get back to how in love Robbie is with Cat."

"I'm not -" Robbie sighed. "Whatever."

* * *

"You're in love with him," Tori said, popping a piece of fruit in her mouth.

Cat scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "I am not!" she defended.

"You are," Jade and Trina chimed in.

"Just because you haven't been a thing in years doesn't mean that you stopped being in love with him," Jade said.

"Yeah," Trina added. "Like I told you, you don't have to be a couple to be in love with each other. Love shows no discrimination. And you, my friend, are in love."

"Everyone can see it," Tori said.

"But we haven't even thought of each other like that in - in years," Cat said.

"You don't have sex with just random people that you don't have feelings for," Jade said. "You don't have sex with anybody."

"Have you really never slept with anyone but Robbie?" Tori asked.

Cat nodded. "Yeah... I mean, there was that one time me and Sinjin got a little drunk and did some stuff, but it lasted two minutes, I never got wet and he came early, so," she shrugged.

"Wait a minute, what about you and Danny?"

"We never had sex, we just fooled around. Touching, grinding, getting off. But never sex. Just Robbie," she said as her phone started ringing.

Jade looked over at the screen and grinned. "Speak of the devil..."

"Shoosh," Cat said, picking her phone up and walking out of their ear shot as she answered the phone. "Hello?"

_"Hey, Cat,"_ Robbie said.

"Hi. What's up?"

_"I was wondering if you were busy tonight?"_

"No, not really. Why?"

_"Would you maybe wanna go to dinner? Romano's? It's Italian, I know it's your favorite."_

Cat grinned, biting at her nail. "I'd love to, Robbie."

_"Great. Uh... pick you up at about seven?"_

"Sure, that's sounds great. See you then."

_"Alright. Bye."_

Cat hung up and walked back over to the table, trying to hide a big grin but was unsuccessful.

"What did you walk about?" Tori asked, playfully nudging her shoulder.

"We're gonna go to dinner tonight. He's picking me up at seven."

"You better get dressed then, it's almost five-thirty right now," Jade said.

"Oh, god, that's really soon," Cat said, standing up. "Um... What do I wear? How do I do my hair? My make up? What shoes?"

"Don't stress out. Let's go find a dress, Trina can find the shoes and Tori can come up with some accessories."

"Always go with heels," Trina said.

"She has to, she's two feet tall."

* * *

Cat giggled as she and Robbie walked up the porch to the door of her house. The whole ride back to the house, they goofed off in the car, singing old songs they used to have fun with when they were teenagers. It was nice to finally get out of the house and go on a date. Was it a date? Or was it just dinner?

"Thank you for tonight," she said with a smile as she leaned against the door. "I had a lot of fun."

"So did I," Robbie said. "Thank you for going out with me. I was worried you were going to say no."

Why was he worried? Did he think she didn't like him? Did he think they weren't friends anymore? Aside from these last few weeks, they really hadn't seen or talked to each other much in such a long time. There was the occasional social media interaction, but other than that, it had been a solid chunk of time since they had anything to do with one another.

"I'd never say no to you, Robbie," she said. She wouldn't. Not in a million years.

"Well, uh..." he started.

"...Do you wanna come in?"

"Sure," he said a little too quickly. "I mean um... yeah. If you don't mind me using your bathroom before I head home? It's a drive."

Cat nodded. "Yeah, absolutely," she said, unlocking the door and pushing it open. "I'm gonna go get changed into something else really quick. Meet me in the kitchen?"

"Sure."

It took all of five minutes for her to get changed into a large t-shirt and get to the kitchen at the same time Robbie did. "You want anything to drink?"

"Oh, no thanks - I gotta drive back -"

"I didn't mean alcohol," she said. "Water, tea, milk, a soda. All of the above?"

"Water's fine."

_Dumb ass. Why would you assume she meant alcohol?_ He thought.

Getting a couple glasses, she filled them with water from her fridge filter and placed one in front of Robbie. "So, um... I really did enjoy tonight."

"Me too," Robbie said. "Maybe we can do it again sometime?"

She nodded. "Yeah, absolutely. Until I start back up on tour, anyways."

"Oh, right. I forgot you had one more leg."

"Yeah. But, it's only for the winter. It's officially over the middle of December, so it's not too much longer."

"It'll be great. You always are."

Cat smiled. "...Um... do you work tomorrow?"

"No, I'm off for another few days."

"Would you maybe wanna spend the night?"

"Oh. Uh... sure, yeah, I could do that."

"Unless you don't want to."

"No, no. I do. I mean, I just didn't expect you to ask. I never expect that of a woman."

"Expect what of a woman?"

"Sex."

"Oh - no," she said. "No, that's... I wasn't asking just because of that, I just -"

"I'm sorry," he interrupted. "That was a dumb thing to assume."

"No, it's fine, I - I don't mind the sex, I just - that's not why I asked. We're friends, yanno? We should be able to have sleepovers. Sex or not."

"I'm not opposed to it. I just don't want you to think that's the only reason I agreed."

"No, I know. I don't want it to seem like I just want sex. I'm not against it either, I just - I don't know, I just really miss having hang outs and just having fun and all that."

"Don't you hang out with Jade and Tori?"

"I meant with you."

Him? She missed him?

"Oh."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make this whole thing weird, you really don't have to stay if you don't want to," Cat said, picking at her cuticles. "Just, we're friends and, I dunno..."

"No. You didn't make it weird. I think I did," he said. "But... just what? You keep saying 'you just'."

"I don't know, Robbie, I'm just rambling, really."

"No, please," he said, walking around the counter to be face to face with her. "Please tell me."

Cat stared into his eyes. She'd never get tired of seeing those brown eyes.

"I um..." she started quietly. "I think... I don't want to be friends."

Robbie looked at her for a few seconds, back up a little to give her space. "Oh. Um... maybe I should go home?" he asked as he slowly, confused, started towards the doorway.

"No! No, I didn't mean it like that, please," she said, taking his hand and pulling him back. "Please don't go. I meant... I think I want to be more than friends."

He stared at her in surprise, his eyebrows raising. "You - you do?"

"Yeah, I -" she sighed, biting her lip. "I miss you," she whispered as her voice cracked.

"Please don't cry," he said.

"I've missed you for - for so long, and I know I've been ridiculously busy, but when my career took off, I never thought we'd drift apart the way we did and it makes me mad that I let that happen, and I think about you all the time and I miss you and I love you and I just - I want you, and six years is just - it's too long, it's too long to not talk or see each other and I'm so, so sorry that I went distant, I never meant to - to hurt you and -"

"Cat!" Robbie interrupted her, brushing a tear away from her cheek, but more just fell as she sniffled over and over again. "It happened too fast for us to realize what happened, Cat, this is not your fault. We got busy, life got in the way, and yeah it hurt - but I could have done something about it and I'm so sorry that I didn't."

"I miss what we had, I miss being Cat and Robbie, I miss having someone there that loves me, I miss having someone next to me while I'm falling asleep, I just - I just miss you, I miss us," she said, finally letting out a sob into his chest as he pulled her to him.

"Then let's be Cat and Robbie, and let me be the one next to you when you're falling asleep and love you, and let's be us again, then."

Cat sniffled, keeping her face buried in his chest. "...You mean all that? You wanna be Cat and Robbie?"

"I want you. I want us," he said. "I don't want to be just the friends that meet up every now and then and hook up or dry hump each other, I wanna be the couple that can do that whenever the hell we want."

"Please take me back, Robbie... I - I need you in my life, it's just not the same without you..."

"I'll take you back if you take me back, cause it's not the same without you, either."

"I'll take you back a million times over."

Robbie smiled. "I think you're swell," he said, capturing her lips with his.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

* * *

"Get out!" Cat shrieked.

Jade let Cat's bedroom door slam behind her, covering her mouth as she laughed to herself, walking down the stairs and going to the kitchen. Did she know Robbie was there? No. But now the car that was parked on the curbside outside the house made sense. Why didn't he just park in the drive way like she did? Was it because he saw one side of the driveway had** J-A-D-E** spray painted on it?

It was a common occurrence for Jade to come over to Cat's and wake her up. Cat always slept in when she had the day off and since Jade was an early riser, if she didn't have a call or text by 10:00 AM, she went over to her house and woke her up because she knew she'd end up having a massive headache if she slept too late and then Jade would have to hear about it.

It wasn't, however, a common occurrence for Jade to walk in on her best friend riding Robbie's face.

"You could have fucking **knocked**," Cat grumbled as she walked into the kitchen, clad in a t-shirt and underwear.

"I didn't know I was gonna walk in on Robbie eating you out," she said, shrugging as she poured a cup of coffee that she started before she went to wake up her best friend. "Did you at least get to finish?"

"Yes."

"Well then I didn't ruin anything."

"Wasn't as intense," she muttered, laying her head down on the counter as she climbed onto a bar stool.

"Poor baby. I'm sure you didn't miss out," she said with a small laugh. "I'm assuming he came home with you last night after your date."

"He did."

"And? What happened? How'd it go?"

"It was good. We came back here, we talked a little..."

"Then got laid a little?"

Cat grinned.

"And... that's it?" Jade asked. "What did you talk about?"

"How I wanted to be more than just his friend," Cat said as she got up and walked to the freezer.

"And how did that go?"

"You just walked in on me riding his mouth, you tell me."

"God, you're crude."

"We both felt the same way," she said, getting out a small tub of frozen yogurt and grabbing a spoon from the dish drainer before sitting on the stool again. "We miss each other. Hated the way we just... drifted apart."

"So, you're back together then?"

"Mhm," she said, taking a bite of the yogurt.

"It's not even noon yet, why are you eating ice cream?"

"It's frozen yogurt, it's perfectly appropriate," she said as Robbie walked in and stood behind her. "Hi. Want a bite?"

"No thanks. Lactose intolerant."

"Hello, Robbie," Jade said with a grin.

"Hi."

"Must have enjoyed the ride."

"Jade!" Cat said.

"Does she taste like cotton candy and marshmallows?"

"Jadelyn!"

"I'm kidding. I know you don't."

"Oh my god!" Cat said, covering her face.

"How would you know?" Robbie asked.

"One; because no girl actually tastes like food, they just taste like a vagina," Jade started. "And two because I've hit it before."

"We agreed we weren't gonna talk about that," Cat grumbled.

"You slept together?" Robbie asked.

"We were drunk. Very, very drunk."

"And really horny," Jade said, sipping her coffee. "Just kinda happened."

"Beck was okay with this?" he asked.

"Beck watched it," Cat said, rolling her eyes. "And got off on it."

"I didn't wanna know that."

"I didn't want to see you tongue deep in my best friend, so now we're even," Jade said.

* * *

"Please help me," Cat pleaded as she followed Andre through the grocery store.

"Little Red, I have my own stuff to do, I can't just drop everything," he said.

"You're producing like four other peoples' albums, I'm just asking you to do this one song for me - and I'm one of your friends!" she whined. "You've known me since I was six, we've got twenty years under our belt, what've these other people got, like six weeks?"

"I have a contract with those people."

"Yeah well, you could've had a contract with me too but _nooo_, Tori got **jealous**."

"Your contract was written in crayon and glitter markers."

"Yeah, that's the contract only my friends get to sign," Cat said as she grabbed a loaf of bread and threw it in the basket.

"Hey! I want," Andre and Tori's son Jace said from the 'baby holder' as Cat called it.

"No. You smoosh the bread. I don't like smooshed bread."

"It's not your bread, you have food at your house," Andre said.

"Yeah but I like going to your house better, you guys actually cook food."

"Well if you would learn how to cook more than mac and cheese, you'd be able to cook for yourself."

"I cook!"

"Sticking things in the microwave doesn't count, Little Red."

"Auntie, out," Jace said, holding his arms out to Cat.

"It does too. It cooks my noodles," she said as she picked Jace up and placed him on her hip. "Please help me with this song. Tori agreed to help me write it. It would mean a lot to have two of my best friends help me with something that's so special."

"Why is it so special?" Andre asked.

"Because it's a song for Robbie."

"Oh? Since when are you two so involved again? He didn't tell me anything."

"Because it's super recent. I want to do something for him that will last a lifetime, and music never ends. This is the most special thing I've ever done for anybody besides Jade and Beck, and that was a sad song. Please help me, Andre. It's really important to me."

Andre sighed as he put a box of crackers into the basket. "Fine. But it has to be quick. I don't have a lot of free time, you know that."

"Tori and I have to write the song first. It shouldn't take long to produce it."

"Oh my gosh, you guys are the cutest family," a teenage girl said.

Cat smiled. "Thank you!"

"Mixed babies always have the prettiest complexion. What's his ethnicity if you don't mind me asking?"

"Black and Peurto Rican."

"You don't even look look it! I never would have guessed."

"I'm Italian and Irish."

"Oh, I thought... I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to assume."

"I'm the aunt," Cat smiled.

"Well, in any case, he's beautiful, you guys are really lucky. Sorry to intrude, have a nice day!" the girl said before walking off.

"Are you beautiful?" Cat asked, kissing Jace's cheek.

"Auntie boo-full," Jace said.

"Aw, thanks, bud. I love you."

"I yuh you."

"I love you more."

"No, I love you more."

Andre smiled, listening to them go back and forth. "You would have been a really good mom," he said.

Cat looked at him. "...What do you mean 'would have been'?"

"Nothing. Just... you're gonna be a really great mom some day."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. I know so."

* * *

Cat walked into Robbie's house, letting the door close behind her. "Robbie? Where are you?"

"He's in the shower," Robbie's sister, Hayden said from the living room. "Wait, who's here?"

"Cat?" she said, walking to the doorway.

"Oh my god!" Hayden said, jumping up and running over to her to hug her. "Oh my god, I've missed you so much!"

Cat smile, hugging the twelve-year-old back. Hayden was only five or six the last time she saw her. "Hi, kiddo, I've missed you too."

"What are you doing here? Are you and Robbie talking again?"

"Yeah. We're doing a little more than talking, we got back together."

"Oh my god! Yay!"

Hayden reminded Cat of herself at twelve. The childishness, the eagerness.

"So are you gonna get married? Can I be your maid of honor? Are you gonna have babies?"

Cat laugh. "Slow down! We just barely got back together, babies are nowhere near in our future, and my best friend is going to be my maid of honor - but you can be a bridesmaid when and if the time ever comes. Now... I gotta go talk to Robbie. You stay down here unless there's an emergency."

"Are you gonna have sex in the shower?"

"What? No!"

Hayden shrugged. "My friend Delaware says that's what happens when her brother's girlfriend has to talk to him when he's in the shower. They're loud."

"We're not gonna have sex in the shower, Hayden - especially not with you just downstairs. And awake."

"I don't care, it's not my business. Do what you want."

"I'm gonna go talk to Robbie," she said, making her way up the stairs. She went to Robbie's room and walked into the bathroom, standing at the doorway. "You told Andre about the baby?" she asked.

Robbie screeched, turning the water off quickly and peering from behind the door. "What?"

"You told people about our baby."

"...Yeah..."

"Why?"

"When we were at the studio, we just got to talking and it came up," he said, stepping out of the shower and wrapping a towel around his waist.

"I don't like the baby being brought up. It's easier to pretend it never happened."

Robbie looked at her for a few seconds. "...But, it did happen, Cat... that was a big part of our lives."

"I don't want to think about it!" she snapped, tears suddenly springing to her eyes. "Do you know what it does to a woman... when she creates a life, and that life just... disappears? With no reason? No explanation."

"I know what it feels like, it was my baby too, but... I thought we were okay with it because we didn't plan it and we didn't know about it until we lost it."

"It was still our baby, Robbie!"

"I know that!"

"Then why would I be okay with losing it!"

"You said you were okay with it! When it happened! I asked you if you were okay, your exact words were 'yeah, I'm okay. I didn't have a bond with it, I won't miss it'!"

"Well I miss it!" she snapped. "I didn't think I wanted it, but after it sunk in, it hit me really hard!"

"Why didn't you tell me that!"

"Because you made it known that you weren't the least bit upset by it! I couldn't cry about back then because you didn't give two fucks that we made a human being and it died! It made me feel like you wouldn't care that I was upset, that I was hurting, that I was - I was hoping and praying that maybe that clump of tissue the doctor pulled out of my uterus was somehow still growing and I'd be able to hold it, and that day never fucking came!" Cat sobbed.

Robbie pulled Cat into his arms, kissing her head as he wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay, Cat, look how far we've gotten," he said. "Maybe we didn't get to have that baby, but look at you. You're the world's most famous pop star. You might not be here if things went differently."

"I don't care about the fame, Robbie, I never have..."

"We can have another baby later on..."

"Why not right now?"

"Because we just got back together. You only want to have one right now because you're upset and thinking about the first baby. You know right now isn't the right time to have a baby... Let's just... be us. Let's enjoy us for a while. Then work on possible future kids, okay?"

Cat sniffled, staying silent. "...You promise we can talk about it later?"

"I promise."

"Okay..."

"You wanna go downstairs, get something to eat?"

"Yeah. I want popcorn."

"I meant like real food."

"I want popcorn."


End file.
